Kill House
by DARWIN51
Summary: ""They have Nell" Those three words that sent everyone into immediate action, with fear in their hearts, for this was not just another case, this was one of their own." Inspired by the promo for Tuesday's episode "Kill House" Nallen
1. Chapter 1

Kill house

"They have Nell" Those three words that sent everyone into immediate action, with fear in their hearts, for this was not just another case, this was one of their own.

It was 9:30 pm in OSP, when Eric received the notice that Nell had set off her agent in distress signal. He immediately notified the team and they rushed into the OSP center.

Eric carried the tablet, his hands shaking, with a worried expression as he began to report the information he had so far. "Nell set off her agent in distress signal half an hour ago. I managed to track her phone to a certain point before it was disabled. Through the traffic cams I watched all the cars that followed the route of her phone, and I narrowed it down to a dark blue SUV. I tracked that to the end of the freeway before I lost it. Then we received this:"

Eric pulled up a page on the screen "It's a link to a video camera, but I can't track it." Eric sighed. "And this is what I found when I opened it." Eric tapped the link and it redirected to a new screen, which showed a room with a concrete floor and brown walls. Lying in the middle of the floor, bound by the wrists and ankles, was Nell.

Eric sighed again. "So far the image hasn't moved. It's just an image, not a video. I don't know what we're waiting for, I don't know what they're going to do, but it's something they want us to see." He finished.

"Do you have any idea where she might be?" Sam asked. "I told you, I lost her at the end of the freeway. I tried tracking the car on the traffic cams but it disappeared into some side roads near Parker Street." Eric's voice was shaky, and it was obvious he was on the verge of tears.

"Wait a minute, I'm getting something." Eric flipped back to the video camera image, which was moving now. Nell was on her knees in the middle of the concrete floor in a dimly lit room. Her hands were tied off behind her back, and her ankles bound. A large man wearing a mask stood in front of her. His mouth was moving, but the team couldn't hear anything.

Eric panicked and messed around with the computer keys quickly "Trying to link to the audio…" he muttered to himself. "Got it." Instantly they heard a man's voice yelling in some other language.

"Kde je?!"

"Nevím!" Nell responded in the same language, which shocked everyone since they didn't even know what language it was.

"Nelži mi Ty malá děvko Jen mi řekni, kde!" the man shouted back.

"Už jsem vám řekl. I. ne. vím. Já ani nevím, kdo mluvíte"Nell said.

Callen quickly translated for the rest of the team. "He's asking her where someone is. She's saying she doesn't know."

"You know that language, G?" Sam asked.

"It's Czech." Callen replied.

"Ano, ano. Můžu to velmi obtížné. Jen mi řekni, kde G Callen je!" The man shouted.

The team all turned to Callen. They may not speak Czech, but they knew Callen's name when they heard it. Callen looked shocked. After a few seconds he quietly said "He's asking her where I am."

The team turned back to the screen when they heard Nell's voice. "Nevím, kdo to je, slibuji" Everyone turned to Callen to translate. "She says she doesn't know who I am." Callen felt guilt in his heart. _She doesn't have to do this. She is suffering for me._

"lhář!" The man shouted, and Nell spit in his face. Raging, he slapped Nell hard across the face, causing her to fall roughly to the ground.

Kensi gasped, and the whole team felt anger coursing through them, and the urgency to find this bastard and beat him into the ground. "He called her a liar. Eric! Find her now!" Callen shouted urgently. "Don't you think I'm trying! This isn't exactly a frickin walk in the goddamn park! That's my _best friend_, and I want her safe as much as you do." Eric's voice got weaker "I'm doing everything I can. I'm sorry." There was silence for a moment before Sam said "It's not your fault, Eric." Shooting a 'cool it' look at Callen. They all looked at each other for a few moments before turning back to the screen, where the man had left the room and Nell was struggling to get back up into kneeling position.

After another minute, the man came storming back in the room again. He threw something down on the ground in front of Nell. "Vidíte? Fotografie z vás a G Callen. Ty ho znáš." He said to her.

"He says those are photos of Nell and I together." Callen said worriedly.

"Oh! Ho? Řekl mi, že jeho jméno bylo Chris Robins" Nell replied.

"She said 'Oh him? He told me his name was Chris Robins'" Callen said.

"Takže víte, kde je?" The man asked.

"'So you know where he is'" Callen translated.

Nell looked nervous and bit her lip for a second, before replying with confidence: "ano, vím, ho. Žije na 1422 Sullivan ulici. Necháte mě jít?"

The man quickly left the room without answering.

"She said "Yes I know him. He lives at 1422 Sullivan Street. Will you let me go now?" That's not my address. What's at 1422 Sullivan?" Callen asked. Eric did a quick search on the tablet and gave an impressed laugh before saying "It's the police station." Smiles spread across everyone's faces "Way to go, Nell!" Sam cheered. Deeks went off to alert the police station about a guy in a dark blue SUV anywhere near the station. Kensi added another positive thought "He's wearing a mask, right? So he plans on letting her go, or else he wouldn't bother with the mask." The team nodded in agreement.

Things quickly turned bad when the man walked back in and said "Poslal jsem své dva asistenty v případě, že jste lhal"

Fear flooded both Nell and Callen's faces. "What'd he say?" Kensi asked eagerly. Callen sighed. "He said "I sent my two assistants in case you are lying"" They took a moment to process this. "Shhhit!" Sam said, as if he was going to catch himself and say 'shoot' but then decided the situation was worthy of a 'shit'.

The man left the room again, and once the door was closed, Nell repeated Sam's reaction. "Do you think she knows we're watching?" Kensi asked. Just then, Nell let out a long string of curse words. "Nope, I don't think she knows we're watching." Deeks said.

"Like the friggin Catalanos all over again" Nell muttered quietly to herself.

"What did she say?" Sam asked, but no one answered. The only person who was able to make sense of what she said was Eric. Spending all day every day in OSP together, they got the time to learn about each other's lives. Eric remembered that Nell mentioned her least favorite foster home was when she was with the Catalanos. He also recalled her saying something about them being in jail now.

"Friggin handcuffs and goddamn face slaps, yeah." She snorted. "The good old days." She muttered as she moved over to the corner and began rubbing the zip ties around her wrists against the edge of a pipe, but after 5 minutes, and after cutting her own hand on the pipe, she gave up. "That's not gonna work. You've been watching too many movies, Nell." She said to herself. She sat back on her heels and began humming quietly to herself.

The team spent the next 45 minutes trying to track Nell, and constantly keeping an eye on her through the video camera. When Deeks was alerted that the police department had two men in custody who were found driving past the station, and as soon as they told Deeks that they were speaking Czech, he knew they had the right guys. Unfortunately, that sent things into a downward spiral.

The team turned all their attention to the screen when they heard the door slam open in the room Nell was trapped in, and the man barged in shouting louder than ever.

"TY IDIOTE! Ta zatracená policejní stanice! Myslel sis, že může oklamat mě takhle, dovolte mi, abych vám, nemáte žádné větší šance. Budete platit!" He stormed back out of the room and returned with a whip-like stick.

"Oh my god, Callen! What did he say?" Kensi asked, worried. Callen was completely pale, he quietly answered ""You idiot. The damn police station. You thought you can fool me like that, let me tell you, you have no more chances. You will pay.""

The team watched in horror as the man stormed over to Nell, kicked her over so she was laying on her stomach, raised the whip, and brought it down hard, with a sickening sound of it connecting with Nell's back. Nell cried out loudly in pain, and tried to move her arms so they wouldn't get hit, preparing for the next blow. The man brought the whip down again, and Nell let out a cry a little bit weaker than the first one, and curled up into a ball.

"Oh my god, do something!" Kensi cried, but Eric sat frozen in his chair, and Kensi couldn't even stand to see the look on his face. Callen was paler than ever, his right hand gripping the table, holding him up. His whole arm was shaking and the look on his face could not be described as anything other than fear and guilt. Kensi, Deeks, and Sam felt their hands forming into fists, the anger towards this man building in them to an unimaginable level. Eric snapped into action, working faster than ever, turning away from the screen completely and typing furiously into multiple keyboards.

"Vidíte? Vidíte, co se stane? Já tě zabiju!" The man shouted as he raised the whip a third time. He struck her again, and she cried out, "Ne! Prosím!"

"We need to do something NOW." Callen said "Why? What'd he say?" Kensi asked. Callen froze, and then said "He said he's going to kill her" "I have police searching everywhere they can around the end of the freeway and Parker street." Deeks reported, but it didn't lift their spirits much.

"Co dobrého budu-li, že jsem mrtvý?" Nell said, pausing to cough. "Jestli mě zabiješ, budete prostě muset vraždu přidat do svého seznamu trestných činů. Můžete držet mě za výkupné."

"She said she won't be any good dead, and he should keep her for ransom." Callen quickly translated.

The man seemed to consider this for a moment, before shouting "Neměňte předmět!" and struck her twice more.

The team winced with every blow. It seemed to be hurting Callen more than it was hurting Nell. "He said do not change the subject." They began to realize just how bad the situation was when they saw dark blood blossoming from her light blue shirt.

The whip tore her skin with every slash, and eventually she stopped making any sound, while the man continued to shout curse words at her.

The team could only watch for the rest of her beating. Never had Callen felt so helpless in his life.

When the man finally finished, he threw the whip down angrily, the blunt end of it hitting Nell's temple. All she could do was let out a soft breath of pain, not even making a sound. The man left, and a few minutes later, the video camera disconnected.

"What happened? Did we lose the signal or something?" Deeks asked. "We lost access." Eric replied, typing in more commands "I can't get it back."  
Sam sighed. "I want to do everything I can to help, but I know being here I'll just be in the way of Eric's techie thing he does. So I'm going to go pray. As soon as you need me for _anything,_ feel free to interrupt me." With that, Sam left the OSP center and headed downstairs. Callen looked at Eric. "I'll do my best." Eric promised.

After 5 stressful, hellish hours, Eric finally shouted that he got something. Everyone dropped whatever it was they were doing to literally run to the OSP center. "I'm not sure. Honestly this is just a guess. But I think I might have the location." He said. "Great. I'll send some officers down there." Deeks said. "No." Callen replied. "I'm going. I want to take care of this bastard myself." "Me too." Sam said, and Kensi nodded in agreement. "Well let's go then! Stop wasting time! Deeks, call for police backup." Callen said. Deeks nodded and pulled out his phone as everyone made their way to their cars.

Four cars surrounded a small cabin in the woods off of an old street called Darby. In two of the cars sat policemen, ready to jump in if help was needed. In one was Kensi and Deeks, and in the fourth, Callen and Sam were quietly exiting the car, and making their way up to the door. Deeks and Kensi quickly followed. Callen tested the doorknob, and of course it was locked, so he stepped back and kicked in the door as hard as he could, without even knocking. A woman screamed and a baby started crying as Callen and Sam started to search the house. As soon as they got through the door, they looked to their right and saw a woman holding a baby, sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"Who the hell are you!?" She cried, frightened.

"uh, NCIS." Callen said, thrown off by what they found.

Deeks jumped in with his gun out and shouted "L.A.P.-" Callen grabbed his arm and shushed him. "Oh." Deeks said. "Ma'm, we are so sorry. This is a huge misunderstanding," Kensi walked in and Callen wandered off while Deeks was talking "we are sorry, really." Deeks looked back at the damage done to the door. "I-I'll pay for that, sorry. If there's anything we can do, or-"

"Hey!" Callen shouted. "Over here." Sam and Kensi followed Callen to where he was standing near the basement door. On a tiny nail sticking out of the wall next to the basement stairs, was a very small piece of light blue fabric, no more than half an inch wide. "This is part of Nell's shirt" Callen declared.

Deeks spoke into his radio for the other officers to come in and watch the woman. Then he followed the rest of the team quickly down the stairs. Guns out, they searched the basement before all that was left was a door. They surrounded the door, and Sam put his ear up against the door. "I don't hear anything." He said. They all glanced at each other and nodded before Sam kicked in the door.

They moved quickly through the next room, as it was only a small room anyways. In the corner of the room was the whip, with dried blood on it. There was a television screen, which showed the same view they had of the room Nell was in. Through the screen they could see Nell still laying on the floor, and the man in the corner, wrapping up the sharp edge of the pipe so she couldn't try to escape again. Next to the screen was a door. "That's gotta be it." Sam muttered. They all surrounded the door, gave a silent prayer, and broke through the door.

It was finally the right room. The man looked up and saw them, and immediately grabbed Nell and held a pocket knife to her throat. Kensi slipped behind them before anyone could see.

"You don't want to do this, man." Sam said.

"Dejte zbraně dolů!" The man shouted angrily, pulling the knife closer against Nell's neck.

"Alright, alright, we're putting down out weapons." Callen said gently placing his gun on the ground as Sam and Deeks did the same. Callen held his hands up. "No one has to get hurt. I am G Callen, just let her go and you can have me. Nikdo nemá ublížit. Já jsem G Callen, jen nechat ji jít, a můžete mít mě. " He tried to negotiate.

"Jak mám vědět, že nejste lhář?" The man asked.

Sam, Deeks, and Callen were slowly stepping out of the way of the man. "Yes. I'll do whatever you want. Ano. Budu dělat, co chceš." Callen replied. Before the man could even respond, they heard a loud

BLAM

The man dropped the knife and fell to the floor. Callen lunged forward in one step and caught Nell. Kensi stood behind the man, her gun raised. Sam gave a small nod. "Nice shot, Kens."

Callen was holding Nell tightly, and Nell was shaking. "Shh, shh, it's okay" Callen tried to calm her. Deeks walked over with his own pocket knife and cut the zip ties around Nell's wrists and ankles, allowing her to stand up straight, but she still leaned into Callen. Deeks went to radio-in for an ambulance. Callen still held Nell tightly, whispering "It's okay, it's okay" and gently stroking her hair, trying to keep holding her up without touching her back too much. "Nell you didn't have to do that. You could have just told them where I-" Callen stopped when Sam gave him a look that said 'not now'.

Fortunately the ambulance was not far, and soon the paramedics came down with a stretcher. Callen had debated carrying Nell up the stairs himself, but decided that would only hurt her back more. Callen walked Nell over to the stretcher, and she reluctantly let go. As soon as she started to lay down, she let out a small cry of pain and rolled off the stretcher. After a bit of fussing, and realizing there was no other way unless she wanted to walk, which she was in no position to do, she laid down, cringing. Callen could only watch as they carried her away, knowing it was best if he just let her go without making a big deal about wanting to go with her.

Sam walked over to him and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Hey. She's safe now. We did it." "Not soon enough." Callen replied.

The team left the room to let the coroner and crime scene investigators in, and they regrouped outside. "You all okay?" Sam asked. "Yeah, I'm good." Deeks replied. "Yeah." Kensi echoed. "Alright, we'll meet back at ops, get changed, and go to the hospital." Callen instructed. Everyone nodded and went to their cars.

It was just past 4 in the morning when they got back, Callen quickly changed out of his bulletproof vest and other equipment, and waited impatiently for the rest of the team. Eric came down to join him. "You alright Eric? You look a little shaken up." Callen commented.

"Who wouldn't." Eric stated while trying to smooth out his hair, since he had been running his hands through it all night. He sighed "Anyway, I'm going with you guys. Hetty doesn't need me here anymore for tonight. I really want to see Nell."

_We all do,_ Callen thought. Kensi appeared, and Sam and Deeks weren't far behind.

They go to the hospital rather quickly, but then spent 4 hours in the waiting room. They had been told that she was okay to see visitors, but they were going to have her talk to a social worker or psychologist first.

Needless to say, the whole team was surprised when they saw Nate walk in. "Nate! What are you doing here?" Kensi asked. "Hey man, I thought you were overseas!" Sam greeted.

"Well, I was _going _to surprise you guys tomorrow –er- today." Nate corrected, checking his watch. "But," He gestured around him "this happened. I'm just stopping through, I'm on my way to Washington for…well, I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." He joked. "I'm just kidding. But really, I just talked to Nell, and-"

"Wait, _what?_" Callen said, shocked. "We were told she can't have visitors yet"

"before she sees a psychologist." Nate finished his sentence. "And I am that psychologist."

"Oh." Kensi said, still looking confused.

"Well how is she?" Sam asked.

Nate sighed "Well," he started "I divide up reactions to trauma into 3 stages. Stage 1 is shock. Stage 2 is the actual reaction: crying, yelling, being angry, being scared, et cetera. Stage 3 is being able to recognize what happened, and be able to talk about it, and overcome it. Kinda like the 5 stages of grief."

"So how's Nell?" Callen asked impatiently.

Nate held up his finger "I'm getting there. She's definitely past stage 1. But I think she's skipping stage 2 entirely."

"Is that bad?" Deeks interrupted.

"Normally, yes. That's very bad."

The team shared worried glances.

"But, knowing Nell as well as I do, I think it's just her natural reaction to skip stage 2, it's just what she does. "avoiding the drama", in a sense. So I can safely say, she is working on step 3. Oh yeah, and one of you can go see her now." Nate said with a smirk, knowing they had been waiting for that last part.

"I'll go!" Callen jumped at the chance. "I think I owe her at least two-hundred apologies and thank-yous."

The team reluctantly nodded, knowing he had to do this. "I'll show you the way." Nate led him out of the room and down a few hallways, and up an elevator, before reaching her room.

Callen quietly entered, afraid of what he might see. Finally he saw her laying in the bed, watching him. She didn't look that different, and Callen reminds himself that most of the damage was done to her back. There is a small bandage on the center of her neck, and harsh red marks around it.

He walks over and sits quietly on the chair next to her bed. "Nell," he couldn't really think of what to say. His throat felt dry, and he swallowed nervously. "How ya feeling?" was all he came up with.

"Been better." She whispered hoarsely. "I can't talk" she quickly explained, bringing one hand up to her neck.

"Nell, I am so sorry." Callen took her hand, and he noticed the bloody red marks around her wrists.

He was going to say something else, but then Nell started talking, or, whispering. "Kensi shot the guy?"

"Yes. And the other two are in custody."

"So did they say why they were looking for you?"

"Uh, not yet." Callen replied. "But I already know what happened, there was a video camera, and we could see everything that he did you, I'm so sorry-"

"I know." Nell replied. "Hetty already told me everything."

Callen looked around "Hetty was here?"

Nell gave a small laugh "She's pretty sneaky alright."

Callen just shook his head, glad to see Nell's smile. "Doesn't your back hurt, laying on the bed like that?"

"It doesn't hurt if I stay still."

Callen felt really bad. "I'm so sorry. If there's anything I can do, just-"

"A kiss." Nell whispered.

Callen was completely taken by surprise "..what?"

"A kiss. I want a kiss from the wonderful man who saved me."

"Well, I'm the one who got you into this in the first place…"

"I think we can overlook that tiny detail." Nell smiled.

Honestly, Callen had been thinking about kissing Nell for longer he cares to admit. Now she was asking him to kiss her. Of course he had to do it, after everything she just went through for him; and even if she hadn't done that, he still would've kissed her if she asked. Few things ever made Callen as nervous as he was now.

He leaned over her fragile body, afraid he was going to break her, and gently brushed his lips against hers. For just a moment, their eyes met. She may have been bold enough to ask for a kiss, but now she was making no efforts to be the one to initiate the kiss. She was leaving Callen to do that part. He finally brought his lips to hers, and he felt something he had never felt before. It was not a rough kiss. It was not a hungry kiss. It was gentle, and slow and it left Callen thriving for the feeling of her touch. She was the one who finally pulled away, and Callen thought if she hadn't, they might never have stopped. He stayed close, just looking into her hazel eyes. He saw that the pain in her eyes when he first walked in had vanished, and the look that remained was happiness and a bit of mystery, and he could tell she knew just how she made him feel, what power she now had over him.

Callen sat back in the chair and tried to regain any sense of reality. He looked back at her, and she had a small smile on the same lips he had just kissed. He already missed the sensation of her touch on his lips.

"Maybe another one, sometime when I don't have tubes in my arm and I'm not in a stupid gown." Nell whispered.

"I think you look beautiful." Callen whispered back, teasing her.

Nell's smile got just a little bit bigger. "So what's your answer?"

He paused, just to make her wait a little longer before saying "Absolutely"

A/N Review please! I'm thinking of continuing this, but I'm not sure. I hope you enjoyed it!


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to Lord Assissin for translating the Czech for me!**

**Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed, and everything else, that's what keeps me writing!**

**I don't own any recognizable characters.**

Nell woke up in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, in clothes that weren't hers. She headed into the kitchen, where she was greeted by a familiar voice. "Hey, you're up. Want some coffee?" Callen asked, holding up a fresh pot of coffee. Nell was about to decline, she usually only liked coffee that she made, but it was a friendly gesture, and she decided maybe it was time to shake things up a bit. "Sure. Thanks." She said.

Callen smiled as he poured her a cup of coffee. He loved the cute look she got when she was trying to make a decision. "How did you sleep?" he asked.

Nell thought out how to compare it, before answering "Better than I ever did back at home, but not as well as in my apartment."

"Home?" Callen asked.

"Yeah, Brooklyn. My parents and my brother still live there."

"So why didn't you sleep well? Bad neighborhood?"

Nell gave a small laugh "Well, that too, but my step-dad runs an animal shelter in the house, so we had, say…at least 2 dogs, 4 cats, rabbits, turtles, snakes, birds… you get the idea, on any given day. So I don't really call it a house anymore, I call it "Jeff's Zoo" "

"Are you serious?" Callen said after swallowing his coffee "That's insane! I can see why you didn't sleep. You might as well start calling your step-dad Dr. Dolittle."

Nell laughed "I should! Next time I call, I'll ask for Dr Dolittle. He'd get a kick out of that."

Callen set down his coffee and suddenly turned serious. "Really, though. How are you? Did any of those painkillers work last night?" Nell began to open her mouth but Callen interrupted "Don't you dare lie to me."

Nell raised her eyebrows at his harsh reaction. In truth, she had planned on lying. She didn't say anything.

Callen took a step towards her "I'm sorry, I…I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I'm just…I'm really worried about you. Please, tell me the truth so I can help you." The only thing between them now was the counter.

Nell was going to tell him, but then backed out at his sudden reaction. "What are you, my doctor or something? I can tell my own doctor how I'm feeling." She said in a tone that was less than pleasant.

"Nell, I'm sorry, really!" Callen reached his hands across the counter quickly, but accidentally knocked over a napkin holder onto the floor on Nell's side. Nell instinctively bent down to pick it up, but immediately froze when she felt a stinging, ripping pain in her back. It felt like each of the slashes were tearing themselves apart, and she tried to keep in her hiss of pain because she didn't want Callen to worry any more. She ended up just sucking in a big breath and standing straight up again. Digging her nails into her palms to try and distract her brain from the pain, she hid her face from Callen and ran back into the bedroom.

Callen hurried after her, afraid something serious was happening, but before he was even halfway down the hall, he heard her yell "I'm fine, go away!" and the door slam shut.

He stopped in the middle of the hallway and let out an exasperated breath. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration before spinning around to head back towards the kitchen. "Idiot!" he whispered to himself. He walked back into the kitchen and kicked the napkin holder across the room. He was considering smashing something else when he remembered if he broke anything in this house, he would have to pay for it.

They were in a safe house, since Nell was a victim and Callen was still being targeted. They still hadn't figured out who the men were working for or why they wanted Callen, so the best place for Nell and Callen right now was in a very secluded place where they couldn't be found. This way they had someone to keep an eye on Nell while she recovered. The downside was they couldn't really help much with the case.

As soon as Nell shut the door a bit harder than she intended, she threw herself onto the bed, laying on her stomach, burying her face in the blankets waiting for the pain and itching to go away. The itching was almost just as bad as the pain, and she knew she couldn't scratch it because even the slightest touch hurt like all hell. She could still lay on her back, or lean against something soft, as long as she kept the position and didn't move. Eventually she fell asleep, since she really hadn't gotten much sleep through the night.

3 hours later, Callen knocked lightly on the door. "Nell, are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Are you still mad at me?"

"No."

"…Can I come in?"

After a few moments the door swung open. "Sorry" they both said at the same time. They looked at each other, and Callen gave her a look that said 'why are you apologizing?'

"Sorry if it seemed like I've been avoiding you. I really just needed some more sleep." Nell said.

"Oh. I'm sorry I raised my voice. You're right, I'm not your doctor, but the reason they put us in this house together was so that I could keep an eye on your recovery. And I need you to trust me. Do you trust me?" Callen asked.

"Yes." Nell responded without hesitation. They are a team, and he is the leader, trust is the most important element in succeeding. If the team didn't trust each other, where would they be?

"Good." Callen said, a bit relieved. The sick feeling in his stomach he had been carrying for the past 3 hours went away. "Well, your _real_ doctor says you need to put this antibiotic on the cuts every day. So you _could _wait until she gets here to do that…"

"…are you hinting there was another option?" Nell asked, raising an eyebrow.

Callen shrugged his shoulders "Well, I mean I could do it now, get it out of the way, if that would make things any easier."

"Hmm, I don't know, Callen. Would that make it easier?" Nell smirked at him.

"Well," Callen's smile grew "I think it would be a _lot_ easier."

Deeks slapped his hands down on the interrogation room table at the boathouse. He stared at the two guys sitting across from him and said "Alright. We can do this the easy way…or we can arrest you for accessory to kidnapping. Which do you want?"

"Deeks, they don't speak English." Sam said over the intercom.

Deeks held his hand up "Then why'd you send me in here!"

"I speak…a small English." One of the men said with a heavy accent.

Deeks turned back to them and decided to try and work with it. "What do you know about a man named G Callen?"

The men stared at him blankly, but there was just a hint of recognition in their eyes. "Ahhh…no?" The man said, clearly misunderstanding the question.

Deeks threw the file down on the table in frustration and walked out. "Guys, put Callen on the phone, we can't do this without a translator." He said to Sam and Kensi.

Sam gave him a disapproving look "What if they recognize his voice? They're not supposed to know he's with us."

"Have him talk to me through the earpiece, I'll just repeat what he says. Or get Nell on the phone."

"They think she's dead, remember?" Sam asked. Deeks sighed, then said quietly "Alright. Alright, I give up. I don't know what to do." All three agents were on edge. Their leader couldn't help them, their youngest member was injured, both were being targeted, and they weren't supposed to have contact with either of them.

"I'll ask Hetty one more time if we can call Callen. We can try Deeks's idea." Sam stepped outside to make a call to Hetty.

Callen faced the wall as Nell removed her shirt and laid face-down on the bed, giving him access to her back. In all honesty, Callen was kind of turned on by the thought that she was shirtless just a few feet away from him.

"Ready." She called. He turned around and his good mood quickly disappeared when he saw what was in front of him. Deep, red slashes ran across her back in every direction, varying in thickness and length. White bandages covered the worst parts, where the lines intersected. "Jesus Christ" Callen whispered to himself, barely audible.

"Is it really that bad?" Nell asked, lifting her head.

Callen walked cautiously across the carpet, the horrible details getting closer with each step. He blamed himself more than he should, he kept telling himself it was his fault she was in this kind of pain. It was him who didn't make it to her sooner. It was because of him that she was ever taken in the first place. The kidnappers had targeted her instead of any other member of the team, most likely because she could speak Czech. Which means they must have been watching her for a while, to know this, something Callen himself hadn't even known about Nell.

"Well, um…it looks pretty painful." Callen said.

"It's not that bad." She replied, but Callen knew she was lying.

"Really?" Callen asked, doubtful, gently reaching to pull off the first bandage. She flinched when his hand touched her skin.

Nell could feel him waiting for a response, waiting for her to admit to the pain she was in and make him feel bad. Instead, she just said "I've had worse."

Which was about the worst thing she could have said to him right then. Callen felt his stomach sink even lower, imagining Nell in even more pain, amplifying her cries from the beating that had been echoing in his brain for days. Sure, he's had worse himself, on more than one occasion, but knowing what that's like and imagining her have to go through it was almost sickening. If he had imagined any of the other team members in that kind of pain, yeah, it hurt him to think of his friends like that, but with Nell it was different. Not only was she their youngest and smallest team member, but there was something else that made him feel the need to protect her. Like he wanted to shield her from the horrors of the world and fix wherever she was hurting. But of course, he knew he couldn't do that. They witnessed those horrors on a daily basis. So he had convinced himself that she would be okay on her own. After all, she is strong, and he found that incredibly sexy.

"That's a little concerning, Nell." He said just a bit quieter. He waited, hoping for an explanation of some sort.

After a long pause, she replied "It's nothing you need to know about."

Callen weighed his options of pressing a little further or just leaving it alone. "Does that mean this is a need-want kind of thing or you just don't want to talk about it?"

"Callen." She said firmly.

Callen continued pulling the bandages off and muttered "The latter, I presume."

Nell seemed to think for a moment, then said "You could word it that way, though. 'It's nothing you _want_ to know about'"

Callen straightened himself "Nell, you know you can tell me anything. I'm a great listener, and I want to help you, even if that's just being someone who understands."

"You _wouldn't _understand." She said sharply, pulling a pillow over her head.

Callen dropped the subject and focused only on applying the cream as gently as possible, though he could tell every touch hurt.

Nell hid her face, not wanting him to even look at her anymore. She felt so vulnerable, her weakest spot was exposed and she wasn't even wearing a shirt. And the man that gave her crazy confused feelings that she had never felt before was standing right above her. Now he was asking about something that she had barely talked about since it happened. And she had no interest in talking about it now, especially feeling so vulnerable like this.

Callen now could see that Nell was also hurting in a different way. A way he could fix. But he knew it wasn't going to be easy. He figured he himself might have to open up first in order to gain her trust in this aspect, something he wasn't very good at doing.

When Callen finished, he gently patted her shoulder and said "I'll be in the living room."

She replied "I'll be out in a minute."

He left and headed to the living room. He took his time walking around the room, looking at the windows and plants, the couch and chairs, and the fireplace. "Maybe I should get a plant." He said to himself, considering what little furniture he had.

It was more like 20 minutes before Nell finally came out. Callen was still standing in the living room, he didn't feel like he could sit until he made sure she was okay. He motioned inviting her over to sit on the couch with him, but just as she was walking over, they heard someone entering the house.

Callen immediately went into fight mode, pushing Nell behind him and preparing for an intruder, who was coming around the corner. Callen relaxed when he saw that it was only a guard, holding out a cell phone "Phone's for you."

"Shit, Benson can you knock first!"Callen said loudly. "I thought you were an intruder, y' scared the crap out of me!"

"Sorry, sir." Benson said, still holding out the phone. Callen accepted the phone and answered in a pissed tone "Callen."

"I've got Callen on the phone right now. You ready Deeks?" Sam asked. Deeks gave a thumbs-up. "Callen, we need you to be our translator for the interrogation." Sam said.

_Callen sighed and looked at the couch where he had been about to sit with Nell, but remembering this would help bring her kidnappers to justice, he groaned inwardly and said "Alright, fine. Who am I talking to?"_

"Deeks" Sam said, and Deeks pressed his earpiece and joined the conversation. "T'sup, Callen?"

"Alright we're good to go." Sam said. Deeks walked back into the interrogation room, which now contained one of the men, since they decided they shouldn't interrogate them at the same time.

"Alright first question: Who do you work for?" Deeks said to Callen to translate.

"_Pro koho pracuješ?"_

Deeks repeated what he heard Callen say. The man looked around nervously, clearly trying to make up a lie.

"Eh…_Microsoft._" He said.

Kensi laughed a bit louder than she meant to, then quickly got serious again, remembering the situation, but felt a little better when Sam gave a small chuckle too.

"Of course you do." Deeks said, even though he knew the man wouldn't understand him.

"_Ask him__" hledáš ?"_ _i__t means are you looking for G Callen."_

"_hledáš ?_ " Deeks said to the man.

"Nevím, o kom to mluvíš" the man answered.

"_He said "I don't know who you're talking about" tell him you know where I am."_

"G, we can't just give away your cover like that!" Sam said.

"_Sure you can. It's not like he's going anywhere. Say "__My víme, kde je"_

Deeks hesitantly repeated the line. The man raised his eyebrows but then tried to act normally again.

"_Tell him _"Povím vám, kde je, když mi řeknete, co po něm chcete._" Callen said._

Deeks told the man, and the man sat up and leaned forward and said "Dohodnuto. Nejdřív mi řekni, kde je."

"Callen, what did you tell him?" Sam asked.

"_I said "I'll tell you where he is if you tell us why you want him" before you freak out, I have a plan."_

"You better." Sam said. "You better hope he's stupid enough to fall for this."  
"What did he just say?" Deeks asked.

"_He said "Deal. Tell me where he is first." Tell him__ "Nejdřív mi musíš (musíte) říct, co po něm chcete.__"_

Deeks hesitated again "And what exactly am I saying this time?"

"_It means "you have to tell us first. Why do you want him?""_

"Fine." Deeks repeated the line back to the man.

"Zavolám právníka, ano?" the man asked.

_Callen sighed. "He wants a lawyer. Tell him it will be much easier for him if he cooperates now. __Všechno bude mnohem jednodušší, pokud s námi budeš spolupracovat__"_

"Pracuju pro muže jménem Blažek. Nevím, co dělá, já jenom poslouchám rozkazy."  
_ "He said "I work for a man named Blazek, I know nothing of his business, I only follow orders." I need to be there, I can't tell if this guy is lying or not. Ask him what he's heard about me: __Co víš o ?"_

"To vám nemohu říct." the man replied, after Deeks told him what Callen had said.

"_He said 'I cannot tell you' ask him why not? __Proč ne?_ "_ Callen said._

Deeks repeated what Callen said, but the man had no response. Even after a solid 5 minutes of Deeks staring him down, the man still didn't say anything.

"_Alright. We'll try again tomorrow." Callen decided, but really he just wanted some time alone with Nell._

"Ok, thanks for your help, G." Sam said.

"_Any time." Callen replied then thought 'except now'._

Finally, Callen returned the phone to Benson and walked back towards the living room. Nell was standing in the middle of the room "What did he say?" She asked.

"Nothing new." Callen rubbed the back of his neck in frustration, then invited her over to the couch. Nell reluctantly followed, as if there was something else she wanted to do. He propped a small pillow up next to him on the couch, so she could lean back. Nell grabbed something off the table, and then went over to sit down next to him.

"So what channels do we get?" She asked, holding up the remote and pressing the power button. She knew Callen was going to ask something about her past, and she really had no interest in sharing with him now. Or anyone. Ever. She figured if she kept him distracted, he might forget about it.

"Uh, I'm not sure, but there was something I wanted to ask you-" Callen said, lowering the remote from her hands, but the TV was already on.

"So what kind of shows do you watch? Do you even have a TV? Sam said you don't. You really should have a TV; you would probably be more interested in the news. I like cartoons. You can even record stuff if you're not there to watch it. That and you can like pause and rewind live TV and all that new stuff, and-"

"Nell." Callen said.

"Okay, well it's not _that_ new, it just feels new to me. Wait! This is my favorite show!" Nell turned the volume up, but Callen reached over and pressed mute.

"Can I just ask you a simple question!" He said in frustration.

Nell gave him a surprised look, the same look she had given him this morning, just before she ran away from him.

_Shit, now I've done it again_ Callen thought. He had the perfect chance to just be next to her and he blew it. _Now she's probably going to run away again. Damnit, I'm such an asshole. After everything she's been through for me and I can't even let her watch some stupid TV._

Instead, Nell just sighed and set the remote down on the floor between her feet. "I can't promise you an answer." She replied.

Callen was a little surprised, but he decided to just roll with it. "Where did you learn to speak Czech?"

That was a much easier question than Nell thought. "Oh." She said. "My mother spoke it when I was little. I guess I just picked it up."

"Oh." Callen said. He had been hoping for something more interesting, like having to learn it for a huge undercover assignment or something, but then he reminded himself that she wasn't an agent, and probably had never even been deep undercover. "Same for me. Family spoke it, you know. So only your mother knew Czech?"

"Yeah. Well, my brothers probably picked it up too, I'm not really sure, I never asked them if they still remember."

"Wait, so you remembered all that just from childhood? Oh, or do you still speak Czech with your mom?" Callen asked, suddenly remembering that the second option was the most likely.

"I don't know. I just talk to myself sometimes." Nell responded, craftily dancing around the subject of her mom.

"So you don't ever talk with someone else? You could talk with me sometime if you want."

"Well, that's not entirely true. I still have a fos- uh, a friend, who only knows Czech. But sometimes it's hard to talk to her, because I don't know that much, and she doesn't know any English." Nell cringed inwardly at her slip-up. She just hoped Callen didn't get what she had been about to say. She tried to avoid eye contact, but one glance and she could tell he knew what she meant.

Callen normally wouldn't push like this, but he knew she was going to say 'foster' something, and being a foster kid himself, he took immediate interest. "Did you say f-"

"No I didn't" Nell quickly interrupted.

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

"What were you going to say?"

"What were _you _going to say?" Callen countered.

Nell thought quickly "Fossil. I was going to say fossil." She was great at making up lies, so she just rambled on for a few minutes "She was actually my neighbor. We lived next to this excavation site, except it was open to the public, that kind of thing? It was called Penn Dixie, and us and a few other kids from the neighborhood used to go there all the time, and we called ourselves the fossil friends. We would find like trilobites and corals and brachiopods and bryozoans and crinoids, oh crinoids were my favorite. Everyone else loved the trilobites but-"

"Nell." Callen wore an amused look "You said you grew up in Brooklyn. I bet there isn't even a place called _Penn Dixie."_

"There is!" Nell defended. "Actually it's in Buffalo. We took a field trip there once."

"But why do you have to lie to me? If you didn't want me to know something, you could just say so." Callen said.

"Sorry." Nell turned the other way so he couldn't see her face.

Now Callen felt bad. "It's fine, it's fine. I just- I heard the word "foster" and it piqued my interest, since I was a foster kid myself, that's all."

"I never said "foster"" Nell reminded him, still looking away from him. She didn't even know why she should be ashamed of admitting that she was a foster kid. Aside from that _one_ home, she had a great experience in the foster system. She had tons of friends, lived like a normal kid, it was definitely better than where she had been before she was placed in foster care. So why should she be afraid of Callen knowing? She was more afraid of the conversation leading to the events before and after that.

She took a deep breath "Okay, fine. I was a foster kid. Big deal. Are you happy now?"

Callen's first response was going to be 'only if you are' but then he realized how incredibly cheesy that was, and decided against it. Instead he went with "Not if it was a bad thing."

"Well it wasn't. It was wonderful. I'm not being sarcastic."

"Good." Callen said "That's good." He wasn't entirely sure where to go after that. In today alone, Nell had mentioned a father, a step-father, a mother, and multiple brothers. Callen was just trying to figure out what caused her to end up in foster care if she still had that much family. "But you have family, right? Why were you…"

"Callen, not all kids are complete orphans. Some kids are in the system because their parents temporarily can't take care of them. Sometimes there are kids whose parents are in rehab. Some kids parents just go missing, some are in the hospital, some leave, and some aren't allowed to have their kids back. And believe it or not, some kids actually get adopted. C'mon foster boy, you should know this." She teased him.

Callen struggled to figure out which of those categories she fell into. There was another category that he was glad she hadn't mentioned. It was called 'Every single family member is dead' which unfortunately was his situation. But if she hadn't mentioned that, that means it didn't happen to her. And for that, he was glad. "Okay, but you gotta at least give me some sort of hint." Callen said to her, returning her smile.

Nell thought for a while, like she was trying to think of what to tell him, then decided "No I don't." She stood up and wandered to the other side of the living room.

"Fair enough." Callen said, deciding he had pushed her limits too far already. "What are you doing?"

Nell was crouched down in front of a cabinet under the TV, digging through it. "Trying to see what gaming systems they have."

Callen laughed "I'm pretty sure they don't have any gaming systems, Nell. You're really going to play a _video game?" _

Nell turned around and frowned at him, offended. "I'll have you know video games stimulate the brain and increase fine-motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Eric and I play video games almost every day."

"You actually have video game systems at your house?" Callen asked, not condescending, but amused. Nell just nodded. "What, like a X-box or a Wuu or a Play-boy…wait, that's not what I meant to say-"

But Nell was already practically collapsed in laughter.

"That's not what I meant!" Callen defended, but he was laughing too.

Once Nell recovered, she finally said "Okay, I think you mean a _Wii_, not a Wuu. And I'm pretty sure you were trying to say a _Play_station and a Game_Boy._ No, I don't have a Wii or Playstation, but Eric has both. I still have my Game Boy Color, which I got when I was 13. It still works." She said proudly.

Callen was still extremely amused by all of this. "So they don't have any of those in that cabinet over there?"

Nell triumphantly pulled out a gray box, tangled in wires. "No, but they have a SNES." She began to untangle the wires.

"A _what?_"

"A SNES."

"Okay, that doesn't help. Can you explain what this snes is?"

"Super Nintendo Entertainment System."

"Sounds like a band."

Nell laughed a little bit. "It's a little outdated, but it still works. Come on, are you playing or not?"

Callen pushed himself up off the couch "I guess I have no choice."

Nell plugged the wires into the TV, then hooked up the controllers. "You do get a choice. Which game do you choose from this lovely selection?" Nell said sarcastically, holding up one game.

"Can I do eenie meenie miney mo?" Callen asked. Nell rolled her eyes and put the game in. "So what game are we playing?" Callen asked.

"_Please _tell me you've heard of Mario Kart?"

After much shouting, laughing, and cursing, along with a lot- and I mean _a lot_ of Callen falling off the track, he finally threw the remote down and said "I quit!"

"But you haven't even won a race yet!" Nell said.

"_Exactly._ You can't teach an old dog new tricks." Although he had to admit, she was teaching him how to have fun, something he had never gotten much of in his life. "So, some of the guards brought in a bunch of boxes with new kitchen supplies. Apparently the last person who stayed here got _very_ angry and threw all the dishes at the wall. That, and they figured it was time for new stuff anyways, so they kind of put it upon us to unload everything and put it where it belongs. You up for it?"

Nell shrugged her shoulders "Sounds good."

When they got to the kitchen, Callen picked up one of the boxes and set it on the island. "I'll take these ones, you take that one? There's more stuff in that one anyway."

Nell agreed and began taking dishes and bowls out of the box.

After about ten minutes, Nell started to notice that Callen kept glancing over at her. Finally, she sighed and said "_What_ do you want?"

"Well," Callen started "I did have _one _more question I wanted to ask you, and it's been bothering me."

"Okay. One more question." She reluctantly agreed, hoping he would ask something easy.

"You still have all your family, right? I'm not trying to ask as in like, y'know, not like that, but that's just what I've gathered from what you've told me." He said, tripping over his words.

"For the most part." She answered simply.

Callen tried to remember, the only person she hadn't mentioned still being alive today was her mom. "So what about your mother then?" he asked.

"You said only one question." Nell said, although that wasn't one of the worst things he could ask. "But I'll answer this one. She's gone." She said, stacking dishes.

"Oh. I'm so sorry, Nell."

"Don't be." She roughly shoved some bowls into the cupboard. "She hated me."

Callen really wasn't sure what to say "Oh come on, I'm sure she didn't _hate_ you." He said, hoping it might make her feel better.

Nell slammed the dishes on top of one another then shoved them into the cupboard too, then turned to look at him. "You just don't get it, do you? She _left_. She left me and my family, and I'm glad. She absolutely hated children, and what do you know, she ended up with _four_."

"How does someone _accidently_ get pregnant 4 times?" Callen asked, hoping to lighten the mood a little.

"Twice." Nell said, distracted by the silverware she was flinging into the drawer.

Callen frowned and thought for a minute how that was possible, then realized "Two sets of twins?"

Nell had her back to him, and she pointed her finger upward as if to say "higher".

Callen raised his eyebrows as far as they could go "Quadruplets?! Wait, that doesn't make sense…"

Nell pointed her finger down as if to say "lower".

"Triplets?"

"There ya go. One set of triplets and one normal child. Guess which one I am." Nell said.

Callen tried to think, she had 3 brothers, so it was more likely they were identical triplets. "Uhh….the normal one?" He guessed.

Nell gave a small smile and said "Nope."

"Seriously? You're a triplet? I don't know if I believe that." Callen said doubtfully.

Nell leaned over the counter, bringing her face close to his "Look at me, Callen. Am I lying?" She had a sly smile on her face. Callen studied her for a few moments, before saying "You can be a pretty good liar when you want to…but I think you're telling the truth."

"Good call." Nell turned back to putting the dishes away.

"That's pretty cool. I've only met one other triplet in my life." Callen said.

"So what about your sister?" Nell asked, changing the subject."

Callen was completely taken by surprise "What?"

"Come on, if you're gonna play 20 questions with me, I at least get ask you _one_ question, right?"

Callen tried to re-gather his thoughts. "Uh, sure. What do you want to know?"

"How did she die?" Nell said flat-out.

"Um, well, she lived in an orphanage for a while, and once she went to play by the river with a few friends at night. She accidentally got swept away by the current."

Nell had a sympathetic look on her face, but said "I know there's more to that story."

"Okay, well, one of the girls at the river went back to the orphanage and pretended to be my sister. When they found my sister's body, they thought it was the other girl, so she was buried in the wrong name. That's all there really is to that story. Was there anything else you wanted to know?"

"Thank you, and I'm so sorry. That's really awful. I _do _have another question. What was your number?" She asked.

Callen knew exactly what she was talking about. She wanted to know how many foster homes he had been in. That made him also wonder what hers was "37. What about you?"

"I thought we agreed you weren't going to ask me any more questions today." Nell reminded him.

"Right, sorry."

"Alright, I'm gonna go shower." Nell said.

Callen winced at the thought of the water hitting her back like that. "Are you going to be okay?"

She smirked "I think I can manage this one on my own, Callen."

He couldn't help but smile as she walked away. He was glad to see that through all the events in the past few days, the sassy, sarcastic Nell was still there, and had never even left, really.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Callen walked over, curious since they weren't allowed visitors. He pulled out his gun just to hold it just in case. He peeked through the window on the side of the door. Much to his relief, it was just Benson, holding out a phone again. Callen opened the door, accepted the phone, thanked Benson and said "Hello?"

"_Callen." It was Sam. "The second guy was interrogated at the police station. He says he knows something he's not telling them."_

"What kind of something?" Callen was intrigued.

_Sam sighed "He says he has information that you want…about yourself."_

**Oooh, cliffie! Please review! I am accepting ideas for the third chapter.**


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